the dirt roads looking for work Tom had stopped at farms asking if anyone needed help No one did Crops were poor because of the drought Farmworkers were plentiful Many farmers couldn’t pay for hired help even if they needed it Those who could pay wanted grown men Me and my sister can do the work of two men and be paid half as much Tom would tell the farmers The Turners still couldn’t find employment A few of the farmers they had approached ran them off as if they’d been homeless dogs Most were sympathetic however I’d like to help but I don’t have the money to pay you You come around next year Maybe 1934 will be better one farmer had told them His wife had come outside with a dishpan of water She threw it on a flower bed then looked them over Why honey they ain’t nothing but kids she told her husband Where’s your folks at kids Tom and Hallie didn’t answer The woman shrugged You ain’t the first orphans that’s come around You sit down and have you a glass of cold buttermilk before you go on That’s the least we can do She turned to her husband Folks is one after another coming down that road looking 6 SOMEPLACE to CALL HOME
Chapter One for work Times is sure hard She went inside and returned with a pitcher of buttermilk and three glasses and handed them around She stared at Benny but didn’t say anything When the three had finished drinking Hallie rinsed off the glasses at the pump She set them beside the back porch steps The woman had gone inside so Hallie told the man We sure are obliged to you I wish I could hire you he said We understand Tom told him He and Hallie and Benny had climbed back into the car and headed for the next farm We’ll find something We always do Hallie said now as she helped Tom with the boxes She was right Just when things seemed hardest Tom got a half-day’s work for fifty cents Then they’d found those tomatoes Until then they’d been eating pancakes made from flour and water They’d paid a nickel for a half-dozen eggs to mix with the pancake batter but Benny had dropped the eggs on the ground and they’d broken Now she glanced at where Benny sat playing with the boat You stay there Benny Don’t go off They had to watch Benny all the time It wasn’t that 7
he didn’t mind them He was easily distracted He would see a bird far off and run to it calling Hi bird Or he’d discover a flower He’d pick it for Hallie then spot another one farther away Whenever he saw a rabbit he called Hi Bob He’d follow it until the rabbit disappeared Back in Oklahoma he’d had a pet rabbit named Bob Now each time he caught sight of a rabbit he thought it was his friend and would try to catch it Of course it was hard having to take care of a six-year-old Hallie and Tom might have been hired more often if they hadn’t had the little boy to take care of Even as a twelve year-old Hallie had had a few offers for work A woman wanted to pay her a quarter to clean her house She’d brought Benny with her The woman had said she wouldn’t allow the boy inside Hallie couldn’t leave Benny outside by himself So she’d had to turn down the job She might have been resentful of Benny but she wasn’t She and Tom loved their little brother and protected him fiercely Tom gathered rocks and made a circle Then he collected wood for a fire They were careful about camping When they left a campsite they always put out the fire They also returned the rocks to where they’d been It’s the least we can 8 SOMEPLACE to CALL HOME
Chapter One do Tom said We’re trespassing on someone’s land even if the owners have been dusted out and moved on The fire Tom built made Hallie even hotter Of course they didn’t need the fire to keep warm They needed it to cook the tomatoes which were mushy now At first Hallie had cut them in half and they’d eaten them with salt After a few days they were so soft that they had to be cooked The night before she had made a tomato stew adding chunks of bread to the pot with the stewed tomatoes The bread was gone So she mixed up biscuits using flour baking powder water and a pinch of salt while she decided what to do with the tomatoes How about tomato soup for supper she called to Benny No more tomatoes he replied Hallie too was tired of tomatoes but there was nothing else to eat except for biscuits Besides she wouldn’t throw away perfectly good food even if they were sick of it She thought a moment then said Then how about red soup Benny You like red I like red he agreed Hallie smiled at the boy while she dumped the last of the tomatoes into an old pot blackened from use She smashed 9
